Computational modeling of social categories can be found in a wide range of digital media works. Computational models of social categories are used in a range of implementation of virtual identities, here defined as avatars, game characters (both user and computer controlled), accounts, and profiles. Aspects of the implementations of these virtual identities are not visible to users (e.g., user preference information computed on the back-end to recommend purchases in e-commerce sites or to display ads; information to determine success of actions such as opening a locked door or attacking in games). For example, within computer role-playing games (RPGs), racial categorization is often used to style the visual appearance of an avatar of a player or to trigger different predetermined (“canned”) reactions when conversing with a non-player character (NPC). In social media, users might join groups based on shared taste or categorize each other into groups such as “colleagues” or “family members” using privacy settings. However, in most such systems, category membership is determined in a top-down fashion. Members are often slotted into single, homogeneous groups, with no possibility for hybrid identities, identities that exist at the margins of groups, or identities that change over time. Taken holistically, such approaches have many limitations. These deficiencies are particularly visible when trying to accurately model the nuance of social category membership in the real world.
As an example, socially nuanced conversations that take into account real-world identity phenomena have not yet been extensively modeled within prior art games. FIG. 1 is a table illustrating three prior art approaches of relating character attributes to alternative game outcomes.
Text-substitution (TXT_SUB) refers to the use of pre-authored text templates with one or more words capable of being replaced depending on a specific character feature such as gender or race, and the context of use. For instance, in the game Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim a word referring to the race of the character, such as “Nord,” might be replaced with a word referring to another race such as “Breton” when the player-character (PC) is addressed. Similar textual changes are often made to comments made in passing by non-player characters to the PC when they are not engaged in conversation. Another method of conversation variation used is the replacement of entire clauses (rather than single words) in dialogue trees (DLG_TRS). However, such text-replacement is also often dependent upon only a single feature of the PC. A third variation method used is conversation action availability (ACT_AVL), which refers to using specific modeled character features as a means of selecting which choices and actions are available to the PC. Finally, story progression (STR_PRG) may be affected by specific character features. For example, in Skyrim, availability of a particular quest can be decided based on a player's character race. Playing as the “Orsimer” race allows a PC immediate access into a restricted area, whereas playing as a different race requires the completion of a prior task.
In sum, these are highly limited ways of taking character identities into account. Most conversations in such games do not dynamically progress based on the NPC's impression of the PC's identity during the interaction, nor take into account multiple features of PC identity (a phenomenon known in the humanities as “intersectionality” in identity). They do not take into account partial membership in categories or the trajectory of identity over time. They also do not address the issue of generating alternate dialogue based on character identity robustly. Therefore, there is a need in the industry to address one or more of the abovementioned shortcomings.